In the 1960s, few could have predicted the lasting impact rock bands of that era would have on the world or how deeply their influence would come to shape modern culture. Not only was the music itself a uniquely extraordinary experience for those first hearing it, but the visuals which accompanied it, equally groundbreaking and imaginative, became such an inextricable component of this era of music that it is difficult to imagine one without the other.

Finding himself at the advent of this transformative movement was Dail Beeghly, a young man working in a Washington D.C. print shop in 1968. When local promoter Durwood Settles presented Dail with an urgent request to design and print an original poster for an upcoming concert featuring a relatively unknown musician at the time named Jimi Hendrix, he jumped at the opportunity and agreed to the job. The success of this initial gig would lead to a fruitful working relationship with Settles in which he would go on to design and print posters for the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Iron Butterfly and Creedence Clearwater Revival, just to name a few.

Taking cues from the psychedelic art styles of the burgeoning music scene in San Francisco, Dail refined his craft and began incorporating more experimental text arrangements into the increasingly elaborate collages of band member imagery to create his own distinct artistic style. His skills as a printmaker evolved, as well, incorporating vivid DayGlo inks and complex layering to create imagery with greater depth and visual impact, all within the confines of the analog equipment available at the time. He would eventually develop a series of large-format blacklight posters using these same designs which were distributed via head-shops in the region.

Dail remained in the printmaking industry until his retirement where he would then make his way to Manhattan, Montana. He assumed his years of creating rock ’n’ roll artwork were long behind him, that is, until meeting local artist and printmaker Wilson Raska, who has been active in the Bozeman music scene for 20+ years creating promotional posters and t-shirts for a wide variety of local bands and businesses. Their mutual appreciation for these iconic bands formed what would become a close friendship and eventual partnership, with Dail creating new artwork and Wilson handling the printing and production.

Dail’s new body of work pays homage to these legacy bands using his trademark style, replacing concert information with intricate text compositions of the bands’ most famous songs. He still creates everything by hand, sketching the overall layout in pencil before painstakingly cutting out the individual elements from a translucent Rubylith material with an X-acto blade. In the print shop, Dail chooses the ink color combinations and directs the application of his signature splatter technique while Wilson operates the press.

Currently residing at the Churchill Retirement Home, Dail spends his days listening to classic albums from these same bands while working on new compositions. His excitement and passion for the craft has given him a renewed sense of purpose at this stage in his life and has allowed him to reconnect with the world which ignited his creativity many decades ago and share it with a new generation, helping to preserve the memory of this revolutionary period in music history.

There will be an opening exhibition featuring Dail’s extensive body of work, both new and old, on Saturday, September 27th from 3-8PM at Wilson’s Blackhammer Print Shop in Four Corners. There will be a food truck, beverages, music, and Dail’s prints and t-shirts for sale. 230 Timberline Drive, Bozeman, MT 59718. Call 406-788-5859 for more information.

Art prints will be available for sale online on September 27th at www.dailbeeghlyart.com.    

Wilson Raska is a Bozeman-based artist specializing in graphic design and screen-printing under the banner of Blackhammer, his company and workshop facility in Four Corners.